An Old Nightmare
Sky raised a hoof, ever so slowly reaching out to touch the changeling floating in front of him. Its eyes were narrowed into a sharp glare, its teeth bared, but it did not react. It simply floated there, impossible and unmoving, as frozen as the terrified pony it had been leaping at. Everything was still. All throughout Canterlot, the violent chaos of an invasion had simply come to a halt, the silence almost oppressive with its suddenness.
Another prodding of his hoof failed to draw any reaction, the changeling continuing to defy the pull of gravity.
"That's kind of creepy," Sky murmured, the soft sound made much louder in the unnatural silence. Of the entire city, the only sound to reach his ears were his own words and the faint clip of hooves stepping almost silently on the cobblestone street behind him.
He let his own hoof fall to the ground with a louder clop, lost in thought for a few moments before turning his head toward the only other sound. "This is really just a dream?"
"Indeed," Luna intoned. The dark princess quietly walked up beside the changeling he had just been prodding, holding herself tall, proud. She looked over the changeling for a moment before casting her gaze back out over the rest of the chaotic scene. "Dreams are oft confusing things, ensnaring the mind and befuddling sensibility, but surely thou canst sense the truth of the matter. Thou hast witnessed these events many times before, have you not?"
He hesitated, looking around. The street opened into a circle, an open courtyard, and he recognized this place. He recognized the overlook, and the valley beyond. He recognized the nearby café. He recognized the nearby fearful pony, her cutie mark matching that of the café's sign. He knew her... but not until after this. Later.
"Y-yes," he murmured, giving his head a slow shake. "This is confusing."
"Thou art asleep, and thy mind does not work the same as it does when thou art awake," Luna replied. "Once you are awake, thy mind will see the inconsistencies and alterations of this place. Until then, it shall do its utmost to make sense of what thou dost experience, believing it to be real."
"That's weird," he said, then raised a hoof to rub at the side of his head. "I think... I feel like I'm waking up, but not?"
Luna nodded. "The sleeping mind is a time for rest; it does not handle activity gracefully. Lucidity is the awkward state between the waking world and that of dreams. It is a precarious balance, always trying to tip one way or the other." A faint smile played on her lips. "Do not worry. We can aid thee in maintaining the balance."
"Thank you?" he said, unsure of how to respond to the Princess's offer. And it was the Princess, he knew. Even through all of the confusion and uncertainty of the slightly disturbed dream, he felt certain of this. As real as his mind told him all of this was, she seemed still more real than that. "...But why are you here, Princess?"
She drew her head up, wings mantling in a regal pose... which held for a few seconds of silent emotional turmoil before she sighed, her posture weakening a touch. When she spoke, it was without the familiar formality, her voice grown softer, more personal. "...I wished to apologize."
Sky blinked, looking up to Luna. The feeling of contrition coming from her was soft, but he was surprised enough that it would be there at all. "Apologize? What for?"
Luna considered her words for a few moments before replying. "It is my duty to watch over the dreams of all the subjects of Equestria, to protect them in their vulnerable state of slumber. I fear I have been remiss in my charge, Sky. I was certain the course I chose was the correct one, and I still have not discovered another course as likely to have succeeded. Yet despite that, in choosing the way that I did, I am afraid I have wronged you."
"Wronged me?" Sky echoed, then shook his head. "But you and Celestia... you were welcoming and friendly, even after I..." He raised a hoof to gesture wordlessly at the frozen scene around him. "I'm still a bit surprised at how forgiving you were, and how nice you've been to me. How could you think you've wronged me?"
Luna hesitated, a small frown forming. She sighed again, and then she raised her head, eyes flaring with brilliant light. A blinding flash pulsed outward from her horn, and as it passed through the surrounding city, it stripped away the changelings, the ponies, the fires, leaving only a still and peaceful city. As Luna's eyes returned to normal, a faint breeze wafted through the street, bringing a hint of life to the otherwise still scene.
After a momentary glance around, Luna nodded, and slowly walked toward the nearby overlook. "There were many nightmares in the aftermath of Chrysalis's treacherous attack. Most were here in Canterlot, naturally, but a few were in more distant territories." She paused, folding her forelegs across the overlook wall, her eyes looking out over the valley. "Perhaps that is why one particular dream in Ponyville stood out. There were many dreams to tend to that night, but that one... it intrigued me."
"I have much experience with dreams and nightmares. They are my realm and responsibility, and I must admit I hold some small degree of pride in my skills. And yet, that dream offered something unfamiliar. For the first time in so very, very long, I could not find the dreamer."
She turned to look at Sky, who stood in silence beside her. "The dream itself was familiar enough. Many ponies were reliving the events of that day, and I did what I could to soothe their fears. Yet in this one dream, I was helpless to aid the dreamer, for no matter how many times I looked, I could not find them."
"The dream soon returned, and so did I. I had to find the dreamer. The signs were there, and yet, I could not give credence to what they suggested. I kept futilely digging for a different answer, one which could never come."
"The third time I encountered the dream, I had to accept the truth. I had discovered the nightmare of a changeling. A lost and scared changeling, reliving the terrified memory of an invasion he did not understand."
She remained silent for several seconds while Sky sat down heavily, eyes distant in thought.
"Twilight's letter answered some of our questions," Luna said, eyes turning back to the valley. "But they also raised yet more. Most importantly, we saw this as an opportunity. You were lost and confused, reliving these violent memories as if some discontent ghost, yet there was no hostile intent in your dreams. There was no anger, no hatred. Outside of those nightmares, you were kind and friendly. Such a disparity might lead some to suspicion, but there was no duplicity there. Whatever prejudices had lead you to that invasion had been lost in the mists of your past, and what remained was a changeling that sought nothing but friendship."
Luna hesitated, ears twitching, as if wanting to droop. "So we... I... kept your past from you. I could have ended your nightmares as they formed, but I did not. To banish one's nightmares for good, one must confront the cause of their fear, and I held the truth of that away from you. Our fears can motivate us as strongly as our hopes, and I allowed your fear to persist, because... because the truth has a way of making itself known, and I hoped that, when it did so, the memory of those fears would encourage a sympathy towards ponies."
She slumped ever so slightly, head lowering. "Worst of all, I can not say I am sorry for having chosen that course. Every reasoning I can think of says it was the proper decision, that it was the right decision for the sake of all my little ponies, that it even helped you. Celestia and I already apologized for keeping your past a secret, but I have gone further than she. I can only apologize for what distress my actions have caused you."
Sky took a deep breath, blinking slowly, silently. The sky had grown distant and indistinct, the clarity of the city wavering in faint ripples; the signs of the dream wavering as the rise of thought tried to tip the balance between the dream and reality. Slowly, the clarity of the dream reasserted itself, and Sky's gaze returned from his distant stare to look to Luna again. "After showing so much forgiveness to me, I can hardly hold a grudge for that." He drew in another deep breath and let it out, as if expelling any negative emotions he might have felt, and stood. "A few bad dreams seem like a fair trade in exchange for everything I've gotten."
The princess smiled softly.
Sky stepped up next to her, rising up to rest his own forelegs over the overlook wall, just like Luna was. "So does this mean no more bad dreams?"
"It is within my ability to banish nightmares when they form, but I can not prevent them from forming. I can only guide ponies--and changelings, it seems--to face the fears that give rise to such nightmares." She looked to him again. "And I believe you and your new friends have done much to resolve that fear."
Sky sighed. "I hope so."
There was a moment of silence before Luna spoke again. "I wish I could assure you that these nightmares shall never return, but I suspect that would be untrue. I know your past weighs upon you. You fear what you were."
"Yes," Sky murmured, ears drooping. "I'm worried about what I might find. I can't imagine doing anything really bad, but... what if I did?" He sighed. "I'm probably better off not knowing who I was and what I've done."
"I am doubtful," Luna replied. "The greatest fears arise from the unknown, Sky. The hardest fears to fight are the intangible, the ever-elusive fears of what might be, the speculative. The fears limited only by our own imagination. Our own minds can be more cruel than any reality, as they know better than any how to harm us."
"But... what if I did something really bad? Horrible, even? I don't know if I could live with that."
"Would such a thing be worse than the unchallengeable fear that you might have committed some unknown atrocity? Guilt and regret can be dealt with, but the unknown evades such reasoning. Even as you resolve one potential fear, another possibility rears its head. It can become a never-ending cycle of doubt and guilt, clawing at one's mind."
"I have done horrible things that should surely make anything you have done pale in comparison," Luna said quietly, a small frown forming. "And so, I will never allow myself to forget. Ignorance and misunderstanding led to my fall, and I shall never risk such horrors for so ephemeral a comfort. To forget our past is to forget the lessons we have learned, and to risk the same failures once again."
She paused a moment, then added, "And in your case, I am concerned that the mystery of your past may leave us in danger."
Sky's ear's perked up, a faint shimmer rippling through the dream at the Princess's statement. "Danger? From what?"
"From your past," Luna said. "It is an unknown to you, but it shall return. We can not know what may arise, and as such, we can do little to prepare for it, even though we know it to be inevitable."
"Inevitable?" Sky echoed, the dream shimmering a little more as the faint tingle of adrenaline rose to his senses. "Why?"
Luna's gaze returned to the horizon, her expression growing firm: regal, yet grim. "We do not know thy former Queen, but whatever purpose and reason motivated her actions must surely still exist." Her eyes narrowed slightly, an edge entering her voice. "Chrysalis shall return..."
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I was rather amused when Luna's dreamwalking abilities, which seemed so common in fanon, ended up being made canon, and that it worked rather well for my story. It also immediately gave me the idea of these events, showing a little bit of what Luna was up to during the events of Fragments.
It's also kind of showing the ongoing transition of Luna's speech, from the old-Equestrian style of speech she uses in Fragments and her more modern speech in A New Way. Though the old-style speech was a lot of fun to write.
Featured, congrats
Edit: twice on the same day... Or noght
Edit edit: Thrice?
3614883
Hah, wow. All three stories, all lined up perfectly in the favorites box. That's kind of funny
3614902
good thing I have such a good LONG TERM memory
3614766
Congratulations of getting all three off your fics Featured. And on that note, it is time for me to finally finish Without a Hive. I've been stuck on Chapter 3 for far, FAR too long.
Update after epilogue that isn't just saying sequel? That's as rare as a shiny legendary!
... I take it back. Just a shiny.
Will there be another perspective to follow? Or will we stick with the canon ponies and our two changelings?
3615140
Oh, wow. Yeah, a few things happened since then
3615285
Well, um... it's not just saying there's a sequel?
As for perspective, do you mean the new story? It'll mostly be Sky and Nictis, with occasional bits from other perspectives as the story warrants.
3615360
Oops, yeah, that should probably be "slightly." Fragments is the first story I did here, over a year ago, and I never did get back to give it another editing pass, so it's not as cleaned-up as my other stories. I really need to get to that some time...
3615381 ahh. Shame, I liked the way you integrated Sky into Nictis' story.
Happy that they arent through yet though.
Holy luna dude! All three of your story's are in the box! At the same time no less!
For this feat I shall follow you, then I shall read your stories
That's an interesting missing scene there and it neatly squares the circle between events in the story and what we now know of Luna's powers.
I think it's fitting that Luna should understand Sky and be more forgiving than most. After all, she knows monsters better than anypony else as she sees one in the mirror every day. There is nothing that the Changelings could have done in pursuit of their instinctive drives that could outstrip what she did due to petty, bruised ego and malice-driven jealousy.
I was going to write a small fanfic similar to this, but I guess you already beat me to it
Anyways, it sounds pretty awesome(The plot was a bit different then mine and I love the cover art
) and I'm planning to read it soon 
Whoo, awesome. More of your changelings
Luna's language is a bit odd, with the constant mixing of "you" and "thou", but for the rest, I didn't spot any mistakes.
...though I admit I'm far too excited to go looking for them
3616429
Yeah, that was always a comparison I'd had in mind, and part of why I've always figured Luna (And through her example, Celestia) would be pretty big on forgiveness. They know better than most what kinds of horrible things an otherwise good person could do, as well as how someone can overcome the bad things they've done in the past.
3617767
Yeah, the mixing was intentional. Trying to do a bit of a transition between the old-style speech she uses in Fragments and the more modern speech in A New Way. Which does come off as a little odd, but that was kind of the point
What Just happened....?
Good work, sir! Have an upvote.
And nice job having Sky mimic the behaviors and character of those around him. I picked up on it right away, and it's a nice character touch.
Aw man, I was hoping to see Sky and Rainbow Dash get together, but it seems that the same tension as Meadow and Spark exists here.
Keep going! ;)
3617985
Plus, Sky was actually an enemy in the midst of a battle during the attack on Canterlot, and later was genuinely unaware of his identity when he thought he was really a Pegasus. He's not evil -- he was simply on the other side at first, and later was not intentionally attempting deception. (Which, I'm assuming, is why Rainbow Dash didn't try to physically attack him when she found out he was a Changeling).
Is is wrong that I knew Sky was a changeling after the first memory he has? Is it also wrong that I still enjoyed the story even though I knew he was a changeling, and was waiting for him to be revealed?
Still a good story, sadly there is no sequel to it, as there was a lot that could still be explored. I would like to see what happens between Sky and Dash, as well as what would happen when Chrysalis returns.
3837312
Not wrong at all, it wasn't really intended to be much of a secret, at least to anyone other than Sky. There's a good reason all the mane six figured out what he was, after all!
But there is a sequel! There's a side-story (Without a Hive) showing the life of another changeling who eventually crosses ways with Sky, and a proper sequel (A New Way) that follows up both stories, and will cover both of the topics you mentioned.
3617985
Odd, and still actually mistaken in a couple of places - mistakes in the usage of the older dialect, which seem rather unlikely for Luna, even if she's switching back and forth.
The pronoun is the object of a verb, so it takes the objective case (thee). Just like you would say "aid him" instead of "aid he".
Early modern English verbs are different only in the second and third person singular, present tense (with a few exceptions for irregular verbs) - these are conjugated as "thou runnest" and "he/she/it runneth". So this line should read either "thou experiencest", or if that sounds really awkward (as it does to me), "thou dost experience"
3888522
Erg... I actually remember that first one, re-writing the sentence around it and then forgetting to change the pronoun to fit it. Go me.
Thanks for the "dost experience" one. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out a way of writing it that felt right (Because yeah, "experiencest" sounds really awkward... and also possibly dirty
).
3838267
Without a Hive is the side story here? No offence loved both stories very much but read Without a Hive first and figured it more fitting for a main story but that's just because I am funny like that. Keep up the good work!
3941383
Kind-of, sort-of? They both overlap in their time, with neither of them being a sequel or prequel to the other. A parallel-quel? Side-story seems like the most appropriate common term, but I'm not sure which one I'd call a side-story to the other. Fragments probably gets priority due to being written first, so Without a Hive is technically the derivative work, but many people have suggested that it's better to read Without a Hive first, and Fragments second, and I do kind of agree with them. I'd definitely put Without a Hive as the better of the two, so I certainly wouldn't mind it being the "main" story.
3943414
Being that both are separate(ish) stories that end up mixing I do have to say you did a most amazing job.
3946943
Thank you!
This chapter explains something that was bugging me about Luna, which is good.
Story as a whole is quite satisfying.
I finally got around to reading this and regret not reading it sooner. Excellent story about forgiveness, acceptance, and recovering from a great loss.
3943414 Without a Hive is a side-story to Fragments in the same way that The Lord of the Rings is a side-story to The Hobbit.
By the way, I think the ideal reading order is to read Chapters 1–11 of Without a Hive first, then all of Fragments, then the rest of Without a Hive. It's important that Sky's story is told before his appearance in Nictis's story (otherwise the ending of Without a Hive can feel like a cop-out), but Without a Hive works better as the primary story.
Boy howdy am I ever a sucker for a changling redemption story and this one sure hit the spot. Love that you managed to zig just enough to make the seemingly obvious setup not play out as predicted and you hinted at some tropes (like RD love) without going full pander.
one thing that is bugging me: this story reminds me alot of another I read some time ago but for the life of me I can't find it. thought it was Thrown Abroad but after freshening my memory I don't think so, it is too different in tone and world building. PD, u mentioned once this wasn't entirely original... what was the story that inspired you?
4147551
Any chance you know how it reminds you of the other story? I've read a good number of changeling stories, I might have read it.
It's not really inspired by any specific story, but I know it uses a lot of common tropes (Even if it's playing with subverting some of them at times). Changeling crashing just outside Ponyville after the invasion and getting nursed back to health by one of the mane six (Usually Fluttershy, too), OC befriending the mane six, and of course, the whole amnesia thing. I knew going into it that it was unoriginal in that sense. I tried to make it still be something original by doing those tropes well, and in a few cases, different from the "standard." So I kind of think it's both original and unoriginal, at the same time.
Thrown Abroad is a very different tone, but I suppose it does have a fair number of similarities, too. Both have changelings crash-landing near Ponyville, befriending the mane six (Been a long time since I read Thrown Abroad, but I'm pretty sure they realized he was a changeling, too), and eventually living openly with ponies. Granted, most of that is pretty common for changeling stories. It seems fairly rare for the mane six to know the main character is a changeling early on, however (Except Pinkie, who often knows they're a changeling because... she's Pinkie?).
4147622 You mentioned many of the reasons the story feels familiar and your stated goals match what I took from the story bang on, so mission accomplished.
Two other particulars that I read before but can't place are the appointment to an ambassadorial position and the visit from another changling wanting to join. Maybe those are from TA and its sequel, dunno. To be clear I don't mean similarities as a critisism. If I like a story with a certain subject and set of tropes I'm always happy to find another that provides a fresh take on the same. Just cause you liked one cheesecake doesn't mean you say every susequent cheesecake sucks after all.
4147908
Oh yeah, forgot about those bits. I think those showed up in the sequel, rather than the original story, but it's close enough.
You know, I started "Without a Hive" quite a while back, and I didn't mind it, I guess I just got distracted, and strayed, but this, from when I started reading this, to when I finished it, a whole day hadn't passed, loved the story, so maybe binge reading is good?
Hurrah for pointless run on sentences!
After reading Without a Hive, I went into this story with high expectations. I'm pleased to say that those expectations were met
4554470
Equestria is schitzo-tech, but I didn't imagine them having anything so advanced, and enchantments necessary for life or well-being seem to be exceptionally rare (We've never seen any in the show, that I can think of. Maybe Rarity's temporary wings, but those are pretty obvious to a third party). If somepony did have such things, they'd only have to inform the guard who's doing the scan (They didn't make what they were doing a secret, after all), and they'd find some way of handling it safely. Might take a little longer, is all.
4147622
Fragments is done better than most Changeling stories of this sort for one big reason. Rainbow Dash's reaction to finding out that Sky is a Changeling. It isn't all better at the end of the story.
Part of the reason why is that you write her as somepony who finds it difficult to move a friend to the level of trust required for her to show her deeper emotions (including "the mushy stuff"), and hence she feels terribly betrayed when she realizes that she's been opening up like that to a Pony whose identity she perceives as a lie. In other words, you don't write Rainbow as a boisterous airhead with no real feelings, nor is she just a placeholder character whose role is to fall in love with the protagonist. You keep her in character. That's not always the case in a story like this.
That is why the whole Sky plotline fanon-immigrated into my Shadow Wars. It actually did something important to Rainbow Dash's character, so I decided that it had happened.
4879655
From Rainbow's behavior in the show (Especially episodes like Sonic Rainboom), I kind of get the impression that she's got plenty of feelings, she just hides them behind a boisterous exterior. She's all loud and proud and seems so sure of herself, but as soon as the confidence cracks she loses it.
In a way, I get the sense that she might be a bit more like Fluttershy than one might think, only with a completely different approach to insecurity. While Fluttershy tries to avoid confrontation, Dash attacks it head on, as if to prove herself (Or to pretend it doesn't bother her). I don't think it's a constant motivation, as she seems to usually believe that she really is that awesome (And to be fair, she often really is), but it seems like there's something there. She seems very driven to prove herself.
It makes me wonder if there's something from her past that fed this. I did notice that when we saw the flashback to Dash's first race and sonic rainboom, she looked maybe a little smaller than the other kids. I could see something like that driving her to prove herself, especially with that aggressive attitude.
Dash might seem like one of the simpler archetypes much of the time, but the little bits we've seen where she breaks from it suggest a lot more complexity. The show does a pretty good job of making the characters be something other than simple stereotypes.
As for making her not be just a "placeholder character" who simply exists to fall in love with the protagonist, it probably also helped that, when I started, I didn't plan on anything like that. It was only when I got a couple chapters into writing Fragments, with Sky flying around with Rainbow, that I realized that he really enjoyed spending time with her. Like, a lot. His sudden realization of it pretty much mirrored my own.
4881213
(*nods*) And she cares a heck of a lot about her friends, and perceived betrayal by them really hurts her. And what hurt about Sky was that she perceived it as betrayal -- which was sad, because Sky actually didn't mean to betray her -- he didn't know what he was. But then, she can't read the story from Sky's viewpoint.
I remember back when I was trying to figure out if I should write her as promiscuous or fastidious, my wife pointed out to me that given Rainbow Dash's attitude toward loyalty, she would probably take it very seriously if she took a lover, and be hurt very deeply if she was betrayed by one. I thought about it and decided that I agreed: Dashie is actually fastidious -- she has to like somepony a lot to display the sexual side of her nature toward that Pony. This is both because she's uncomfortable showing her softer emotions, and because she fears betrayal.
Folding in my Shadow Wars continuity, I think that the common reason why Rainbow Dash became attracted to Fluttershy and to Sky is that each of them engaged her protectiveness -- Fluttershy was timid and Sky was lost and uncertain. Dashie likes to see herself as a protector of others -- that's also why she's drawn (in a more big-sisterly way) to Scootaloo.
She models herself on the ideal of the honorable bannermare of the Pegasus Clans during the Time of Thrones and the period right afterward -- sort of a cross between a chivalric knight and an honorable samurai. She won't come right out and say this to most Ponies (Fluttershy, with whom she used to play pretend games like this when they were fillies, is perhaps the only Pony she trusts enough to openly reference this idea today) but that's her concept of a hero. (And, though she won't say this openly, she has immense respect for her companions in the Mane Six, because she sees them as being heroes like this).
I see her and Fluttershy as being a lot more alike deep down than most Ponies realize. For instance, Rainbow Dash doesn't want to emulate Fluttershy's graceful, aristocratic feminine charm, but she finds it at times mesmerizingly beautiful -- she sees Fluttershy as almost a "goddess" long before she realizes that this in fact may be what Fluttershy's becoming.
And Fluttershy doesn't make a big open show of her martial virtues, but she's very aware that she's a scion of the highest Pegasus nobility, even when deliberately keeping it a secret -- when she becomes incredibly depressed at one point before Luna's Return, I have her actually taking out an ancient honor blade and seriously contemplating committing ritual suicide with it. Also, she very seriously admires Rainbow Dash for her courage and honor -- she knows what Dashie is emulating and she approves of it (though she's terrified in Dragonshyness when she thinks Rainbow Dash is going to be killed trying to be a hero.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are, in their two very different ways, very traditional Pegasi. It's just that Rainbow Dash is more samurai and Fluttershy more Yamato Nadeshiko, to use the Japanese analogy.
Ah ... you had Rainbow Dash and Sky's love develop naturally -- that explains why it's so believable. And why the story's so good -- in a lot of OC x Mane Six pairings, the love is not believable.
Well done!
5041037 You've never read a harsh comment man.
That was constructive. And I've read greentext stories better than this man.
5115922
I'm glad you're enjoying it!
OK so I just finished this and I have to say i love it. But now I need to ask. How dose this Tie in with "Without a Hive" and "A New Way". Also despite you saying a new way is a continuation, its description only says its a continuation of "Without a Hive".
I would also Like to ask what you would recommend I read next to continue this story line.
5121516
A New Way is only marked as being a sequel of Without a Hive (Rather than both it and Fragments) because the sequel system only lets you establish a single prior story, so I had to choose one of the two. More properly, A New Way is a sequel to both stories.
As for how they tie together, Without a Hive and Fragments have a tiny bit of overlap as they both converge at the end, and A New Way continues both of their stories. If you've only read this one, I'd definitely recommend reading Without a Hive next. The background established there is a major part of what then happens in A New Way.
5123317 OK thanks.
Wow, the story description alone screams "HE'S A CHANGELING!"
5335313
Pretty much, yeah
That was a good read. Thank you and bravo, and I look forward to reading your other two stories in this universe.
good job but there was to much left out needs to have more in it and it would be great to be honest this story is overrated just a bit but it was still good